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DIY 5×4 project…
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well, its so quiet around here lately that i thought i’d post what i’m up to… I keep trawling websites and fantasizing about buying all those beautiful large format camera’s that people keep selling, though i cant afford one!
I’ve fallen in love with the look of shots from pinhole camera’s and old lenses. having successfully built a couple of pinhole camera’s I’m ready to move on to more solid things and having bought an old barrel lens with a slot for water house stops i thought id try my hand at building a camera around it. I figured out the focal length by making a sliding box camera out of cardboard with a tracing paper focusing screen, the lens covers 17x17cm easily!
Most of my inspiration and design ideas have come from the good people at f295, a wonderful forum for all interested in film and DIY stuff (sorry guys, they’re great over there…)
Im not much experienced at woodworking, the only things i’ve ever made are a chicken house and a shelf but im not afraid to try, so here goes! what i really want is a 10×8 but i thought id better start with something a bit smaller as a prototype, more likely to be less wobbly! im using bits of things from the shed (hoarder!) to keep costs down and recycle a bit, though i have to buy the odd few bits.
the bits and pieces so far…
the bits balanced together… this will be the front standard. only the inner square is fixed together yet. I’ll cut the excess off the bolts, they’ll have nuts attached to allow rise and fall. the lowest piece will have a hole drilled through it and threaded rod fitted so that focus is on a screw mechanism
and from the back… the inner square frame will have the bellows glued in. this bit and the lens board will be held in by some sort of sliding plate mechanisms in the corners (havent made them yet, not that complex but description sounds it!)
im waiting for some film holders to arrive before i can really begin on the back section, it’d be silly to have it all made and then find it was a bad fit! I’m going to make the bellows myself as well, out of blackout lining, card stiffeners and some black lining fabric…
Cant wait to get it finished and take my first shot!
JB7 made a number of technical cameras and always kept us informed with his progress, here is a link to one of his projects.
https://www.photographyireland.net/arca-irish-8×10-t25732.html
cheers!
thanks for the link eddie, looks like he did a great job and posted loads of useful info. I very much doubt this one is going to be even slightly as elegant and well made as JB7’s, but ugly is as ugly does :wink:
we’ll see what happens, I’ll keep ye posted!
Fair play Isabella, I love having a go myself,although my results are usually a bit ramshackle :cry: In order to maintain your low cost budget,I can donate some silicon carbide if your planning on making the ground glass yourself, frame glass is about the same thickness as ground I believe.
thefizz wrote:
Your enthusiasm is infectious Isabella, keep it up :)
Totally agree :)
Dubtom – that would be amazing… Ive done a wee bit of research into making the ground glass but hadnt gotten to actually sourcing the materials yet… I take it from your name you are located in dublin?
Thanks Mark! I think perseverance is the name of the game here, Ive already had to significantly modify the bits in the images above although its much stronger now… Ill post some more images when ive a bit more done
This guy makes ground glass screens for just about any size camera. I ordered one from him and just used one of those plastic reading magnifiers as a fresnel. Works great, and super cheap.
http://stores.ebay.com/Steve-Hopfs-Ground-Glass-Store” onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
If it’s any help, here are a few pics of a 5×4 spring back I made myself out of pine from the local diy. The “springs” are elastic hair ties from Boots. It works well and keeps the holder firmly against the camera without light leaks.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69845218N00/8423120443″ onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69845218N00/8424209230″ onclick=”window.open(this.href);return false;dubtom I’ll send you a PM now…
Chris, I’ll give a go to making one myself just to do it but i’ll definitely keep that guy in mind, good to know there’s someone out there where one can get them easily enough..
the fresnel increases the visible light for focusing? I’ve seen the use of a plastic magnifier mentioned elsewhere but didnt really get it. makes sense though
The spring back is very clever, a good and simple solution! I found it easy enough to plan the front section of the camera but the back is a bit more elusive… in general it seems people who build camera’s and share online are a lot more focused on the mechanics of the rest of the machine! You wedge the darkslide in behind that then as normal?
thanks for all the help :D
Just using the ground glass on its own can result in a pretty dim image, more so if you are using a slower lens or/and a wide lens. The fresnel gives a brighter image and makes it easier to focus. As for my fancy spring back – it takes a regular fidelity elite film holder and works exactly the same way as the real deal. Sits at the focal plane for focus and is forced back when you insert the film holder and then holds it flush against the camera body.
nice one isabella
fair play for you for taking it on, big learning curve and im sure v.enjoyable
to go DIY !thanks aoluain! yes indeed, there is quite a learning curve alright but its fun!
sorry for the long delay, had to take a break for a couple of weeks to finish a few other projects i had on the go… ready to carry on now though.
so i put it together the way i had initially planned but it didnt work out too well – the structure was weak, shoddily cut angles did not allow free movement and some of the small bits of wood split with nails:
so i took it apart and remade the sides and this is what i ended up with:
a few adjustments are necessary – adding a couple of blocks to the inner frame so that tightening the nuts doesnt pull the sides inward for one thing.
the central hole in the bottom will have threaded rod for fine focussing, the outer two holes will just have smooth aluminium tube to support and guide.
next task is to make the back…
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